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Welcome to Day 2123 of\xa0Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.\nThis is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom\nJames \u2013 Wisdom is Faith in Action 5 \u2013 Partiality and Prejudice \u2013 Daily Wisdom\nPutnam Church Message \u2013 10/03/2021\nJames: Wisdom Is Faith in Action \u2013 Partiality and Prejudice\nWe are continuing our series today on the Proverbs of the New Testament, better known as the book of James.\xa0Last we focused on Listening and Doing Good. Today we will cover some hot topics in our society, but they are even more important within the church.\xa0Our focus is on Partiality and Prejudice.\n\nJames 2:1-13\n\nMy brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious\xa0Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.\xa0Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.\xa0 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, \u201cHere\u2019s a good seat for you,\u201d but say to the poor man, \u201cYou stand there\u201d or \u201cSit on the floor by my feet,\u201d\xa0\xa0have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges\xa0with evil thoughts?\n\n\xa0Listen, my dear brothers and sisters:\xa0Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world\xa0to be rich in faith\xa0and to inherit the kingdom\xa0he promised those who love him?\xa0But you have dishonored the poor.\xa0Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?\n\nIf you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d\xa0you are doing right.\xa0\xa0But if you show favoritism,\xa0you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.\xa0\xa0For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles\xa0at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.\xa0\xa0For he who said, \u201cYou shall not commit adultery,\u201d also said, \u201cYou shall not murder.\u201d If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.\n\n\xa0Speak and act as those who are going to be judged\xa0by the law that gives freedom,\xa0\xa0because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.\xa0Mercy triumphs over judgment.\n\nIn many of our Christian lives, we wrestle against a form of Christianity obsessed with externals. Too many believers draw quick conclusions about people based merely on their first impressions\u2014 almost as if they had forgotten what we are told in 1 Samuel 16:7, \u201cBut the\xa0Lord\xa0said to Samuel, \u2018Don\u2019t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The\xa0Lord\xa0doesn\u2019t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the\xa0Lord\xa0looks at the heart.\u2019\u201d\n\nAlmost subconsciously, our prejudices form in our minds when we see those who claim to be a Christ-follower or when someone walks into a church, we may think:\n

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• Her hair is too short, or his hair is too long.
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• He shouldn\u2019t wear that to church.
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• What\u2019s with those tattoos?
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• That car is too expensive.
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• Their house is too big.
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• He has a Ph.D.
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• She didn\u2019t even graduate from high school.
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• They go to public school.
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• They\u2019re homeschoolers.
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